


Breathing

by LyriaBlackFrost



Series: Fluff Bingo [2]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: 'I Almost Lost You', Fluff Bingo, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, mention of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 05:58:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16402607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyriaBlackFrost/pseuds/LyriaBlackFrost
Summary: After a long day of worrying over the news, Mishima finally receives an answer to all his desperate calls and messages.“Hey, can you come over? I think… He’d like to see you.”





	Breathing

**Author's Note:**

> Second fic for this challenge... I hope it didn't turn out too angsty for it.  
> Anyway, I love Mishima... And if the world doesn't love this sweet rarepair, I'll give it the love it deserves myself!  
> I hope you enjoy it! :)

Mishima spent the whole day on his phone, messaging and calling that same number, without any response.

“Please…”

His voice was no more than a suffocated mutter. He raised his arm, trying to dry the tears with his sleeves.

“Please, tell me this isn’t true…” he proceeded, sending another message. “You can’t be dead… You can’t…”

But no one answered. He had to control himself not to throw his cell phone across the room, typing a new message, this time to another number.

 

**Yuuki: Ryuji, is Akira with you?**

**Yuuki: Is he alright?**

**Yuuki: It isn** **’t true, is it?**

**Yuuki: Please, answer me**

 

Again, no answer. The feeling of despair was so strong inside his chest that he didn’t know how to deal with it: it was all over the news, that the leader of the Phantom Thieves had been captured by the police and committed suicide. Shot his own head with a gun he stole from a police officer.

But he knew Akira would never do something like that. Either the news were lying, or someone had framed his suicide, after…

“Stop!” he told himself, slamming both hands against his face, trying to keep those thoughts away. “He’s not dead… He can’t be dead!”

He kept repeating those words to himself, but, the more he said them, the more they seemed to lose their meaning. How could he be so sure? Akira could be many things, but he was still only a human. He wasn’t unstoppable, and much less immortal.

_Dead_ … It became hard for him to breathe. What if he really was dead? What was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to keep living?

A feeling of anguish started to take his whole body. He curled into a ball, feeling a sharp pain in his chest as the tears left his eyes. _Please, don_ _’t let it be true… Don’t let him be—_

His phone buzzed, and Mishima immediately reached for it: “Ryuji Sakamoto” was the name on the screen. He took the call without wasting any more time.

“ _Hey, Mishima—”_

“Sakamoto!” Mishima interrupted him. “Finally! I thought… What happened? Where’s Akira?”

“ _Calm down, man. He’s alive, we’re in his room right now.”_

_Alive. He was alive._ A sigh of relief left his lips.

“Thank God…” he said. “I saw the news, and… He wasn’t answering his phone, so I thought—”

“ _That’s ‘cause the news are half true. He was caught by the police, but we kinda saved him.”_

“What?”

“ _Long story,”_ Ryuji lowered his tone a little, _“and I don’t think you’d be happy to know.”_

“What are you talking about?” Mishima raised his voice. “Of course I want to know!”

“ _It’s just, talking on the phone is…”_

There was a moment of silence before Ryuji spoke again.

“ _Hey, can you come over? I think… He’d like to see you.”_

“Of course!” answered Mishima. “I’ll… I’ll be there as soon as I can!”

He jumped out of his bed, taking the first set of clothes he found on his wardrobe, leaving the house with a brief excuse to his parents — something about studying for a test. He took the train, and time seemed not to pass. What Ryuji said — actually, what he didn’t say — worried him. How was Akira? Was he safe? Was he hurt? Did it mean they discovered his identity? If so, what was going to happen to him, now?

When Mishima finally reached Leblanc’s entrance, his heart seemed about to leave his mouth. He tried to open the door, but it was locked. Seconds later, Ann opened the door, seeming a little apprehensive, but relaxing when she saw it was him.

“Ah, Mishima,” she offered him a light smile. “Good to see you.”

“Takamaki, what happened?”

His voice sounded a little louder than he wanted. Ann signed for him to enter, then closed the door behind them. She turned to face him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Please, calm down,” she asked. “He’s safe now, you don’t need to worry.”

“I’ll calm down after I talk to him!”

“Yes, of course. He’s upstairs, but… Before you go, I should warn you,” she lowered her tone. “He’s not that well.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Ann explained briefly their plan, and how the only way to save Akira was to make the police believe he was dead. She also mentioned the police beatings and the use of drugs, and how shaken Akira still was after all that. Each word of hers made his heart sink further.

“I’ll go see him,” he said, as soon as she finished.

“Alright.”

He went up the stairs as fast as he could, his mind a turmoil of terrible thoughts. As soon as he reached the upper floor, he stopped, seeing many people standing close to Akira’s bed, their eyes turning to face him. He didn’t know what he expected… Maybe to see Akira in shock, or crying… But instead, he was sitting on his bed, acting and talking normally. When his eyes met Mishima’s, he offered him a wide smile.

“Yuuki!” he said. “You came!”

The fake cheerfulness in his tone hit Mishima like a punch in his stomach. Somehow, he managed to smile back.

“Of course I did,” he said. “You disappeared all of a sudden… It really scared me.”

“I’m sorry… I didn’t want to worry you.”

In other situation, Mishima would feel anxious being among so many people, but at that moment, he couldn’t care less. He approached Akira, sitting beside him on the bed.

“Are you alright, then?” he asked.

“Yeah…” said Akira, absentmindedly playing with his hair. “They’re all fussing over me, even after I said I’m fine.”

“It’s called ‘caring about you’, you asshole,” said Ryuji.

Akira smiled at him, then glanced at Mishima through the corner of his eyes. When their eyes met, though, Akira averted his gaze, and for the minutes that followed, Mishima had the feeling he was avoiding looking at him.

“Either way, I think we should let him rest for today,” said Sojiro, who probably read Mishima’s face better than anyone else in the room.

The others agreed, with the exception of Mishima.

“I’ll stay for a while longer,” he said.

“I’ll leave him to you, then,” said Ryuji with a wide smile, giving Mishima a light tap on the shoulder. “See ya, nerds!”

“Take care of yourself,” asked Makoto.

One by one, the Phantom Thieves left the room, even Morgana, who said he’d spend some time with Futaba, in a clear attempt to leave them alone.

With them all gone, Mishima heard Akira let out his breath. He looked at his boyfriend, who had his eyes closed, suddenly seeming exhausted. His face was covered in dark bruises and small cuts, and his eyes were contoured by deep eye-bags. Mishima tried to act naturally, but the sight made his hand move on its own. He reached for Akira’s face, but as soon as his fingertips touched his skin, Akira flinched. Mishima pulled his hand away, and for a moment, both looked at each other, in an awkward silence.

“Sorry,” Akira averted his eyes, seeming embarrassed, “it still stings a little.”

“Oh, right.”

More silence. That heavy atmosphere was making Mishima even more nervous, so he clenched his fists, gathering the courage to speak.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.

“You wouldn’t let me do it.”

Mishima stared at him in disbelief.

“Of course I—” his voice was getting louder again, so he interrupted himself, thinking a little more before answering. “But you had no choice, right?”

Akira shook his head. Mishima lowered his eyes again.

“Will you be safe now?” he asked.

“I hope so.”

“You scared me so much… Every time you didn’t pick up your phone, I just… I thought…”

His voice broke, his vision starting to get blurry with tears. He did his best to dry them with his sleeve before they fell.

“I didn’t know what to do,” he admitted.

He looked at Akira, who now looked at him, a guilty expression on his face.

“I’m sorry…” he said.

“No, I…”

But, whatever he was about to say, got lost as soon as he tried to turn his thoughts into words.

“Can I touch you?” he asked after a while.

Akira looked at him, seeming a little surprised by the request.

“Yes… Of course.”

Mishima turned his body a little, carefully reaching for Akira’s face, cupping it with both hands. Maybe because of the warning, but this time he didn’t react badly, which made him feel just a little relieved.

“They hurt you so much…” he muttered. “Are you in pain?”

“A little.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Akira!”

The change in his tone made him flinch again, and as much as it broke Mishima’s heart, he couldn’t just stay quiet and accept the situation.

“You’re not fine!” he said. “Stop trying to look strong, alright? I’m… I’m not a Phantom Thief. You don’t need to act like a leader around me.”

He didn’t answer, keeping his eyes on the floor, so Mishima left the bed, kneeling in front of him, holding both of Akira’s hands on his.

“I’m your boyfriend,” he proceeded. “I… I love you. So, please, don’t hold it back for my sake.”

Akira looked at him for a while, in silence. Mishima squeezed his hands lightly.

“Akira…” he said. “Please, talk to me.”

Akira squeezed Mishima’s hands back, taking a deep breath.

“I…” he started to say. “I was really scared…”

He made a pause, and Mishima didn’t try to hush him.

“They kept asking me all those questions, and I refused to answer… So they kept hitting me, and threating to make worse things. When they realized I wasn’t going to talk, they drugged me. My… My mind got all foggy, and I blacked out,” He hugged his own body. “I… I panicked. I thought our plan had failed, that I wouldn’t be able to talk to Makoto’s sister. When I woke up again, I couldn’t remember anything, and, at some point, I didn’t even know why they were beating me up. They said I killed someone… I didn’t understand what was happening. They just wouldn’t stop… Sometimes my mind would turn off, and I’d only come back when they were hurting me again.”

He closed his eyes, fingers tightening around his own arms.

“I thought they were going to kill me,” he admitted in a low tone.

Mishima stood up, gently hugging Akira’s head against his chest, while his boyfriend embraced his waist.

“But things ended well,” said Mishima. “You’re back now. You’re safe.”

“I know… But I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s like…” his voice failed mid-sentence. “Like I’m still there. Like I’m just out of it again, and when I come back, I’ll be back in that dark room.”

“Akira…”

“Sorry… I know it’s stupid.”

“No, it’s not!” answered Mishima. “I don’t know how you managed to hold all this back until now.”

“They already have too much to worry about without my whining.”

“Don’t say that!” Mishima moved away a little, enough for him to look at Akira’s face. “You could’ve died there! I… I can’t even imagine everything you went through, or how scared you were. I…”

His throat felt dry, and he had to fight against the urge to start crying.

“Is there anything I can do?” he asked.

Akira took a while to answer.

“Stay with me,” he asked in a low tone. “I don’t want to be alone.”

“Alright,” said Mishima. “Alright, I’ll stay.”

“Thanks.”

They lied side by side on the bed, facing each other. Akira embraced Mishima, leaning his head against his chest, while Mishima caressed his hair.

“Is this alright?” he asked.

“Yeah…”

Akira tightened his embrace a little.

“I’m so glad to be back…” he said in a low voice.

Mishima smiled at those words.

“And I’m glad you’re safe,” he answered. “I don’t know what I’d do with my life without you… I don’t even want to imagine it.”

Only the idea was enough to make his chest hurt, so he tried to keep those thoughts away, focusing instead on Akira’s warmth against him.

“Never leave me again,” he said.

“I can’t say no when you ask me like that…”

His phrase had a light humorous tone, different from his next words, that sounded low, but sweet in that silent room.

“I love you, Yuuki,” he made a pause, then repeated. “I love you so much…”

“I love you too,” answered Mishima.

It took a few minutes for Akira to fall asleep. Mishima spent some time there, in silence, paying attention to his peaceful breathing.

_He was there. He was alive._

With a relieved smile, Mishima soon fell asleep too.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this fic, kudos and comments are highly appreciated! ♥


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